7th BALKAN CAVERS` CAMP
Njeguši, county Cetinje – MONTENEGRO
The 7th Balkan Cavers’ Camp took place in the village of Njeguši, county Cetinje in Montenegro from 26th to 30th June 2013.
The 7th Camp was organized by the Speleological Committee of the Mountaineering Association of Montenegro presided by Mr. Marko Zornija.
On 26th June, a total of 133 cavers from eight countries gathered in Njeguši:
Bulgaria – Petar Beron – the President of Bulgarian Federation of Speleology and 62 other cavers from 14 Bulgarian caving clubs;
Greece – Lefteris Tzelepis – Equipment Secretary of the Hellenic Federation of Speleology and Stelios Zacharias (BSU Vice president); 5 other Greek cavers from 1 club;
Romania – Tiberio Tulucan – representative of the Romanian Federation of Speleology, as well as 26 Romanian cavers from 10 clubs;
Serbia – Matija Petkovi? – Representative of Association of Speleological Organizations of Serbia with 6 cavers from 3 clubs
Slovenia – Rajko Bra?i?, President of Slovenian Cave Rescue Service with 25 cavers from 7 clubs
Croatia – 4 participants from Speleological Committee of the Croatian Mountaineering Association
Poland – 3 cavers from Klub Wisokogorski Krakow (who participated in the organization of the event)
Montenegro was the host country and there were 9 cavers (from 3 clubs) who all played an active role in the organisation of the event.
The official opening of the Camp took place on the evening of 26th June. The event was opened by Mr. Marko Zornija in the presence of numerous local community representatives as well as the Municipality of Cetinje and the Head of Tourist organization of Cetinje Ana Ivanovi?. The activities for the following days were presented.
The following days the program of the Camp included penetrations in some of the not very long and deep, but quite interesting caves of the Njegusi area like Njegoš cave, Boljanovica and Duboki do which were visited by 120 cavers in total. Some participants opted for the seaside as it is quite near Njeguši. The representatives of the speleological federations had the opportunity to share information and impressions about the speleo events to which they attended and to agree future visits and cooperation. Younger Montenegrin cavers had the opportunity to meet their foreign colleagues and exchange the experience. The evenings were free as the lack of technical equipment disabled having presentations and discussions. The presentations will be sent to all heads of the federations by e-mail so that they can forward them to their members. The last day of the gathering was spoiled by rain and the visit to canyon Skurda which was planned for Saturday 29th June had to be cancelled for the sake of all participants. But, 59 cavers managed to visit the canyon the day before and they descended from 650 m above the sea to the sea level in Kotor.
The farewell party was organized on 29th June. The Mayor of Cetinje participated in the closing ceremony and greeted the participants expressing his satisfaction that Montenegro is recognized as a country with large potential for caving development. He also announced that one of the caves near Cetinje was leased to Slovenia and that it would be transformed into a tourist cave which Montenegro lacks. The representatives of the Mountaineering Association also greeted the participants hoping that there will be more caving events in Montenegro. After the closing speeches held by the organizers and General Secretary of BSU, the letters of thanks were distributed to all federations and clubs whose federations are not the part of the BSU. It was the apogee of the Camp nights, full of emotions and fun and dancing for all participants.
Official events
The General Assembly Meeting (GAM) of the Balkan Speleological Union took place on 28th June with the participation of the national delegates of all Balkan countries presented in the camp.
The members of the Assembly discussed the items from the agenda, gave proposals for Poland to have observer status in the BSU. The General Secretary presented the financial report and the minutes from the previous GAM. The most important thing was the election of new bureau: Alexey Zhalov (Bulgaria) was nominated as President of the BSU, Tiberiu Tulucan (Romania) was nominated Vice-President, Stelios Zacharias (Greece) was nominated General Secretary and Treasurer, and Jasmina ?erani? (Montenegro) was nominated the member. All new bureau was unanimously accepted.
During the GAM, the future activities were discussed as well as the proposal of where to organize the 8th Balkan Cavers Camp. All participants agree that Serbia should be the organizer and the proposal was sent to their Federation. In the meantime, Serbia accepted the organization of the 8th Camp and more details will be soon disclosed.
We are sure that the meeting managed to fulfill its main aim – to create conditions for mutual familiarizing of the participants and establishing of deep friendly contacts among the cavers from the Balkan countries. All we get back home full of impressions of Montenegro – its nature, culture, traditions and hospitable people.
The successful organization and carrying out of the Camp is a result of the efforts of the members of the Montenegrin Cavers Union, especially its President – Mr. Marko Zornija and his small team.
Montenegro owes special thanks to the Municipality of Cetinje and municipal community of Njeguši for their support as well as Tourist organization of Cetinje which provided the tourist material.
Reported by Jasmina ?erani? – Member of BSU Bureau
Contact addresses of BSU Bureau
Alexey Zhalov – President: azhalov@gmail.com
Tiberiu Tulucan – Vice President: tiberiutulucan@gmail.com
Stelios Zacharias – Secretary General : stelios.zacharias@selas.org
Selçuk Canbek – member: selcukcanbek@gmail.com
Jasmina ?erani? – member: ceranicjasmina@yahoo.com
Thank you to spread this information among your national cavers community!
OFFICIAL ADDRESS OF THE BALKAN SPELEOLOGICAL UNION
Stelios Zacharias – Secretary General and Treasurer, c/o SELAS Caving Club, Pasionos 44-46, Neos
Kosmos, Athens 116 31, Greece, ?- mail: stelios.zacharias@selas.org; balkanspeleo@yahoo.com;
http://www.balkan-speleo.org
Annual Membership Fee for BSU is divided into three categories:
National organizations under 100 cavers: 50 Euro;
National organizations between 100 and 500 cavers: 100 Euro;
National organizations with over 500 cavers: 150 Euro.
The IBAN account number of BSU is : BG80BPBI79404441093401
Bank: Eurobank EFG Bulgaria (PostBank), Branch Durvenica, Bank code 92079400;
BIC: BPBIBGSF, 18 , prof. Georgi Bradistilov str, 1700 Sofia, Bulgaria
Account name: Kiten Palmirov Topalov, Hadji Dimitar bl.139 G ap.86, 1510 Sofia
You can pay also by MONEYGRAM, EASY PAY on the same address of Ex – Secretary General.
This Bank Account will remain active until the opening the official one on the name of the BSU for which you should be informed in the proper way!
The member countries, who have not paid their Annual Contribution Fee for 2012 are kindly invited to make their payment so as to confirm their membership in BSU